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T&B Talks | What Media Teaches Us

Hello beautiful people,

It is the first Sunday of the month and you know what that means; another round of T&B Talks. This month we are doing our own separate posts. Lets face it, our lives in the 21st century revolve around media: social media, magazines, the news and what's on our precious screens we call TVs. Media is very powerful. It can inform us, teach us and persuade us. Today I am going to be talking about a TV program that has done just that. I may have mentioned in previous 'facts about me' type posts that I am a huge fan of Glee. I am currently re watching all the episodes again and as I am watching them for the second or third time, I am learning and discovered new things from the show. For those of you who don't know Glee is basically a t show set in a High School in Ohio and follows the story of an enthusiastic show choir instructor who leads his glee club to nationals. Along the way there are love triangles, strong friendships, breakups, pregnancies, and the popular quarterback who struggles to find himself and falls in love with an over-dramatic Barbara Streisand 'wonna-be'.

The new directions was a mixed bag and they were very accepting of each other: a leading firecracker who was Broadway obsessed, a popular jock, the avian couple, the girl who got pregnant in high school, the cheerleaders and the gay couple. For me this symbolises that no matter where you come from, what you do or who you love everyone can be friends and can all get on. This ties in with the next one: It's okay to be you. One of the story lines followed a gay guy who was struggling with bullying and harassment from other people. He accepted who he was but nobody else did. The glee club supported him and helped him get through. By the end of the series he is happily living in New York and doesn't think about those hard high school days.

The quarterback is your typical high school jock. He is the most popular guy in school and is dating the caption of the cheer leading squad. Him and his friends bully people, chuck them in dumpsters and throw slushies at them. But one day he realises he doesn't like who he has become and what he is doing is wrong. So he changes his ways. He doesn't follow the crowd any more just to be cool or to not get bullied, instead he joins the glee club and helps them out when they are in need of a lead male.

Glee taught me many things but the main messages that shines through is to never give up on your dream and to follow them no matter what obstacles lie in front of it or what sacrifice you have to make along the way. My favourite episode is when Rachel and Finn are going to get married but instead of going to the church Finn takes Rachel to the train station so she can go to New York instead where she has a place at NYADA. He did this because Rachel was giving up her dream to marry Finn, but he wont let her do that so he gives her a push in the right direction so she can achieve all she desires.

Check out Tara's post, she talked about what the TV show Skins has taught her and the messages that it sends.